Family focus leads to championship for girls team

For the St. Raphael Raiders, who recently were crowned Division I CYO eighth-grade girls basketball champions, the theme all season was Focus on Family. The team broke every huddle shouting "family," and all season long the coaches spoke of the importance of the team bonding together like a family.

Head coach John Becker and assistant coaches George Pansteras and Mike Barrett preached that whether you win or lose, in good times and in bad, you pull for your family, you fight for your family, you protect your family and you never give up on your family.

On Feb. 23 in front of a packed house in the DeCarlo Varsity Center at John Carroll University, that family spirit prevailed as the St. Raphael Raiders went on to defeat in double overtime Our Lady of Angels, a team who had beaten them twice in the regular season.